Eric Karros named 2000 Graduate of the Year
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Eric Peter Karros has made quite a name for himself on the baseball field and off. On the field, from college at University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A) where he lead his Bruins team to the Pac-10 title to the pros where he is poised re-write the Los Angeles Dodgers record books and set new high-water marks in almost every offensive category. Off the field, he gives generously of his time and money to myriad worthy causes. This makes Eric Karros the 2000 National Baseball Congress Graduate of the Year.
Karros played in the National Baseball Congress World Series twice, in 1986 with the Ventura (CA) Royals and in 1987 with the North Pole Nicks from Alaska. The Royals and Karros played three games in 1986 winning only one. Their first game was against the Liberal (KS) Bee Jays in Liberal where the Bee Jays were virtually undefeatable. In their second game the Royals defeated Chapel Hill 7-0 and Eric went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored. The following year Karros played for the North Pole (AK) Nicks and they were thought to be one of the better teams entering the tournament. Unfortunately for Karros and the Nicks, they were upset in their first two games by the Hutchinson (KS) Cardinals and the Greensboro (NC) Brewers. Eric himself was 0-for-3 with a stolen base and was taken to the hospital in the middle of the second game with a concussion. Atter a collision with a Greensboro player at third base Karros was on deck getting ready to bat when he asked a fellow Nicks player for his batting gloves. They were on Karros’ hands! At that point they decided to take Eric to the hospital. He was released with a clean bill of health, ready to play but not in time to prevent the Nicks from being eliminated.
Eric made his first significant mark on baseball at the college level where he was a walk-on at U.C.L.A in 1986. He put together a .365 average with 26 home runs and 123 RBl during his 3-year career. He was a 3rd Team All-America Selection by Baseball America in 1988, an All Pac-10 selection in 1987 and 1988 and was named team co-captain in 1988. In 1988, Karros won the Six-Pac batting title with a .415 average and along with former Dodger and Bruin teammate and NBC graduate Todd Zeile lead U.C.L.A. to the Pac-10 title. Karros is 3rd on the Bruins’ single-season list with a .415 average in 1988, 4th with 100 hits in 1988 and 6th with 269 at-bats in 1987. After his stellar collegiate career the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Karros in the 6th round.
Eric started his professional career in 1988 with the Great Falls Dodgers of the Pioneer Rookie League. In his first season in professional baseball Karros hit .366 (98-268) with 12 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 55 runs batted in. In his second year of professional baseball Karros batted .303 (165-545) with 40 doubles, a triple, 15 homers and 86 RBI. All told Karros spent only four years in the minors hitting .329 (600-1825) with 131 doubles, 12 triples, 67 home runs and 321 RBI before being called up on September 1, 1991. As a sign of things to come, Karros’ first hit at the Major League level was a game-tying pinch-hit RBI-double in the 12th inning on September 16th against Cincinnati.
1992 was Eric’s first year as a full time major leaguer and it was a big one. He started the year as a platoon first baseman but was given the job on a full time basis on May 24 and started the final 124 games of the regular season. Karros ended up hitting .257 (140-545) on the year with 30 doubles, 20 home runs and 88 RBI. He capped the year by receiving 22 of 24 possible first place votes becoming the first Los Angeles Doager to win the Rookie of the Year Award since Steve Sax in 1982.
1999 was Karros’ best as a Major Leaguer. He hit over .300 (.306) for the first time in the big leagues and reached career highs in doubles (40), home runs (34), and RBI (115).
In Eric’s eight seasons as the Dodgers everyday first baseman, he has hit .273 (1,217-4,456) with 225 doubles, 9 triples, 211 home runs and 734 RBI while only making 49 errors in the field.
With all his on field accomplishments Eric still finds the time to give back to the community in which he lives. He is an honorary member of the Board of Directors for the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood and contributes $350 to the St. Francis Medical Center for every home run he has hit since 1995. Eric is married, to Trish, and has a daughter, Mikah. In 1995 Eric was named “Big Brother of the Year” by Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles.
Now he can add National Baseball Congress Graduate of the Year to his long list of impressive accomplishments.
